Andromeda Wars: A Halo-Star Wars Crossover
by T.R. Keyes
Summary: A UNSC/Sangheili expedition to the Andromeda galaxy leads to the creation of a fertile and golden world know as Cresh. A first contact between the UNSC and the Rebel Alliance leads to cooperation between the two forces, but the threat of the Galactic Empire looms over the fragile human colony. Intergalactic war seems inevitable. INCOMPLETE: More, longer chapters will be added.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Andormeda

**NOTE: My first fan fiction, critical feedback and advice appreciated.**

 **Chapter 1: Welcome to Andromeda**

Context

In an effort to rebuild the confidence and unity among human colonies following the Covenant War, the United Earth Government reached out to it's outer colonies, providing them with limited autonomy and economic assistance. Additionally, the UEG created the Andromeda Initiative as a precipice for increased human exploration to shadow the horrors of the war. In turn, the UEG utilized the UNSC as it's tool for expansion; several combat groups were requisitioned into escorts for a new wave of colonization efforts designed to populate a star system designated Cresh, located in Andromeda galaxy's outer arm. New innovations in slipspace allowed rapid travel; the exodus took a mere 11 years. By 2570, Cresh colony had become a flourishing golden world. Little did the UNSC presence know however, was that Cresh was located in the Unknown Regions of a heavily populated galaxy, governed largely by a authoritarian pan-galactic empire, that of which does not take kindly to new neighbors.

 **Bridge of the UNSC _Augustus_** _,_ **April 17th, 2570, Cresh orbit**

 _One small step for mankind is quite an understatement,_ thought Admiral Arthur Beyes, as he viewed the blossoming world of Cresh from the bridge of his Infinity-class supercarrier.

The lush forested planet hosted no native sentient life, yet vast mineral resources that supported the first colonists quite well. It required a fleet of nearly four dozen UNSC military and colony ships to secure the system, and later properly terraform the temperate world. The pinnacle of work was led by the Phoenix-class colony ship _Brisbane_ , despite being nearly 100 years old, the ship carried modern terraforming and scientific instrument technology, as well as over 50,000 colonists.

More impressive than the workhorse of the colonization effort however, was the flagship of Battlegroup Columbus. The Infinity-class was reserved for fleets with utmost command importance. It featured the most advance technology the UNSC and Office of Naval Intelligence could acquire; reverse-engineered Covenant and Forerunner shielding, Series-8 type MAC cannons, forward and aft, in addition the internal hangar docks capable of housing _ten_ Strident-class frigates. The only other known operational vessel of the class was the prototype UNSC _Infinity_ , which was reserved for the Earth Home Fleet. The status of the _Infinity_ , as well as the rest of humanity, has been unknown due to the communications buffer between the Milky Way and Andromeda. A lot can happen in twelve years.

Cresh was slightly larger than Earth, with around 60% of the planet being covered in water. However, much of this water was spread out in massive, ocean-sized lakes. Cresh hosted no native sentient life, and very few animals. Plant life however, was in large abundance, in addition to extensive deposits of titanium and several new elements and material newly-discovered in Andromeda. Cresh hosted a few cities, the largest being the capital, New Ottawa. Heavily urbanized, the economy was ironically primarily agricultural, despite the immense mining of resources. Many animals from Earth and Reach were flash-cloned from cryo-frozen DNA samples, in order to be raised on Cresh as cattle and livestock. Some were even cloned as pets, such as the various dog and feline species inhabiting domestic households.

Beyes continued to reflect on Cresh's colonization until he was interrupted by Ghost.

"Sir, we have an incoming message from Chief of State Roberts, capital city."

Ghost was the ship's AI. Chatty, sarcastic, yet reserved, Ghost's avatar, instead of a human persona, resembled a Forerunner monitor. Although integrated into the ship rather well, Ghost often operated unnoticed by the majority of the crew, except for situations of emergency. Ghost was specialized for black operations; it was an ONI-developed artificial intelligence.

"Send it through my private terminal." replied Beyes.

"Yes, captain."

 _-URGENT - PRIORITY - ALPHA-_

ENCRYPTION CODE- 24592-3046-02072

 _To Admiral Arthur Beyes. First transmission from the Milky Way has been received by Corona Communications Relay, sent 4 years ago. UNSC Command has acknowledged our safe expedition, and has sent notice of the departure of the Swords of Sangheilios colonization effort. The Sangheili fleet should arrive soon. Unfortunately, the supply of energy shielding for all Tier 1-3 ships has been delayed. Resources have been diverted to construction of a trans-galactic communications relay in the galactic rim of the Milky Way._

 _Standby for warm welcome of Sangheili vessels._

 _-TRANSMISSION END-_

"Something wrong sir?" Ghost inquired.

"Not at all. We are about to get some company out here." replied the Admiral.


	2. Chapter 2: Second Contact

**Chapter 2 : First and Second Contact**

 **Bridge of the UNSC _Augustus_ , April 25th, 2570, Cresh orbit**

It was always unbelievable to Beyes that the Sangheili nearly wiped out the human race. Despite being humanity's closest ally, the species had a dark past of genocide and redemption. In response to the UNSC's Andromeda Initiative, the Swords of Sangheilios seemed eager to embark on their own expedition to Andromeda; they intended to reinforce Battlegroup Columbus and colonize the neighboring planet designated Thel; aptly named after the races redeemer.

The crew of the _Augustus_ was buzzing about the arrival of more colonists, especially Sangheili. Many were eager to meet old allies, some less than others.

Ghost's blue, translucent avatar appeared on the pedestal adjacent to the captain's chair. "Shall I put the Sangheili fleet on the main view screen sir?"

"Yes, and prepare to receive a fleet-wide transmission from the Sangheili commander." Beyes answered.

The shimmering of a dozen purple-white portals signaled the long-awaited arrival of the Sangheili colonial expedition. Emerging from the portals were two CAS-class assault carriers, six CCS-class battle cruisers, and 9 SDV-class corvettes. A fleet much smaller than anticipated, the fleet was barely a third of the UNSC expeditionary force, which consisted of the UNSC _Augustus_ , six Autumn-class heavy cruisers, eight Halberd-class destroyers, the ten Strident-class frigates docked in the _Augustus_ , fifteen Paris-class frigates and two ONI stealth prowlers.

The bridge officers took more than a few seconds to take in the beauty of the Sangheili ships; the purple, organic hulls contrasted Cresh's lush green and blue surface.

"Incoming transmission from the _Shadow of Intent_." interrupted Ghost.

"Put it through." eagerly responded Beyes.

"[Static]...This is Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum commanding the Fleet of Retribution. To whom may I have the honor of greeting?"

"This is Admiral Arthur Beyes of the UNSC _Augustus_ , we are receiving you transmission. On behalf of the UNSC colony of Cresh and Battlegroup Columbus, I would like to welcome you and your men to Andromeda Shipmaster."

"Thank you Admiral. Let us hope this coexistence will act as a new beginning for both of our species. Your colonization efforts have appeared to very successful. "

"Indeed Shipmaster, let us hope you efforts on Thel prove to be even more promising than our"

Beyes turned to Ghost "Ghosts would you oversee preparations for a meal with our guests?"

"Certainly sir." the AI responded.

Beyes returned to the view screen. "Shipmaster Vadum. I would like to invite you to the _Augustus_ for a dinner, to welcome you here. Feel free to bring your senior officers."

"That is very honorable of you Admiral. I look forward to our meeting in person".

The transmission ended, and Beyes removed himself from his seat and allocated a personal com channel. "All senior staff, report to the dining hall for a meal with our new guests. And would Spartan Gabriel Thorne report to Hangar A-4 to welcome the Shipmaster?"

 **Spartan Thorne's Private Quarters, UNSC _Augustus_**

Gabriel Thorne walked outside of his apartment and saw his sister and parents having a picnic. It was sunny, and the cool breeze caused the trees to sway ever so slightly. He approached his family, their faces gleamed with kinship and joy. As he walked towards them, a beam of amber light poured form the sky, blinding him. All he could hear after that were the screams of not just his families, but hundreds of people. He had no power, he had no control; he reached forward to touch them but felt nothing but ash.

Thorne screamed and woke from his dream. He was drenched in sweat. "Another nightmare." he muttered. It wasn't the first he had since New Phoenix, and it would not be the last. The weight of being in command of all Spartans aboard the _Augustus_ had little ill effect on Thorne. Rather, it gave him both the strength and pride he needed to serve his men and the UNSC. The only thing Thorne feared however, was being unable to control or help them. Powerlessness, it seemed, was every commander's worst fear.

Ghost's shimmering avatar illuminated the dim quarters. "Another nightmare Thorne? I would recommend neural sedatives provided by Dr. Santiago. I calculate an estimated 74.89% probability of them suppressing your nightmares."

"No Ghost, I'm fine. Didn't I tell you not to appear in my quarters?" Thorne replied, a little bit annoyed.

"I apologize Spartan Thorne, but protocol mandates that in a sit-"

"Yeah I got, orders are orders." interrupted Thorne.

Ghost's avatar flickered, possibly a sign of irritation. "Speaking of orders...the Admiral has requested you escort our guests, the Sangheili commander and his senior officers."

Thorne stood up and got into a shirt and pants. He nearly bumped into the ceiling of the cabin; sometimes he forgot he was over 7 feet tall. "Tell the admiral I'm on my way."

"I will notify him." replied Ghosts, and the AI's avatar disappeared.

He left his quarters and reported to the armory where the real suit-up began. Spartan-IV armor was some serious gear. Thorne stood still as the operator took the admission ring out and began to put the armor plates on Thorne. He could feel the pressure being applied to his arms, but he was used to it. The recruit to the left was uneasy about the situation.

Thorne motioned to the operator to turn him towards the recruit. "Relax kid, you get used to this."

He looked towards Thorne until another voice from the other side spoke up. "Yeah kid, it doesn't bite. How do you think we leave these suits in one piece?"

It was Anthony Madsen, Thorne's second in command.

"Okay enough of the chatter, let's go meet our guests in the hangar." remarked Thorne.

 **Senior Dining Hall, Deck 12, UNSC _Augustus_**

Beyes and his senior staff entered the Senior Dining Hall after being notified of the Shipmaster's arrival on _Augustus._ An assortment of various meals adorned the table. Beyes spotted steak, from flash-cloned cattle being raised on Cresh. Beyes and the officers took their seats and waited for the arrival of the Sangheili.

The door streaked open as Spartan Thorne, alongside two other Spartans appeared; behind them were several hulking figures, easily as large as the Spartans themselves, possibly taller. One in glistening white armor stood out.

Admiral Beyes stood up and stretched out his hand. "Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my vessel."

The Shipmaster hesitated, accustoming himself to the human notion, and quickly shook his hand. "You bring my men and I great honor admiral. It is my hope that our two species will continue to flourish and cooperate here as we have done before elsewhere."

"I agree Shipmaster. I have already tasked several of our ships to assist in your colonization efforts of Thel colony. I believe the environment is appropriate for Sangheili, so it will not require further terraforming efforts."

"I appreciate the generosity of you and your people admiral." The Shipmaster dipped his head slightly, looking at the ground. "Now I can see why the Arbiter has so much faith in your species..."

Beyes seemed unnerved by the Sangheili's digression."Please Shipmaster, have a seat. We have a large feast for us to eat; I hope you like steak."

"Cow, the human delicacy? I could not have asked for anything more admiral. And you honor me too much, call me Rtas."

Beyes nodded "Let us celebrate our continuing friendship. Now, this medium-rare isn't going to eat itself."


	3. Chapter 3: First Contact

**Bridge of the UNSC _Pioneer,_ May 2nd, 2570, Cresh system perimeter**

 _I can't believe I got stuck with another routine patrol mission,_ Captain Marcus thought. First, he was given command of an old rust-bucket Halbert-class destroyer, then sent on a one-way trip to another galaxy. Now instead of contributing to the newest development in human history, the development of Cresh colony, he was being relegated to menial task that seemingly had no purpose. Him and his crew were cogs in a machine, but what for what purpose?

 _Aren't we all alone out here? What are we patrolling for?_

The vastness of space was silent; literally. Sound could not travel through the vacuum of space, yet Marcus felt annoyed, as if loud music had been blaring throughout the cabin of the ship. He felt as if his talents were wasted. Then again, there was little else he could do out here in the middle of no-where.

Suddenly, the terminal adjacent to fire control lit up in red.

 _Alert, alert, perimeter disturbance detected._

Captain Marcus quickly looked down at the monitor. "What is that? Taylor is one of the satellites malfunctioning again?"

Taylor, his communications officer, peered over several interfaces on the screen. "Negative sir, diagnostics have not presented any issue with the satellite; something is out there."

 _Probably just a stray asteroid or ionized nebula,_ Marcus muttered to himself.

Taylor spoke again. "Captain, I am detecting energy signatures within the range of the satellite"

Captain Marcus reoriented himself. "Helm, take us to the exact coordinates of the energy anomaly. And Taylor, notify Admiral Beyes of our course digression."

 **Cockpit of the _Ghost,_ Phoenix Squadron, 2 BBY, Location Unknown**

The Rebellion suffered a crippling loss at Atollon, Phoenix Squadron's former base. Losing a base of operations and nearly an entire fleet of ships, all that remained from the original fleet were two Hammerhead corvettes, a single CR90 corvette, four A-wings, two Y-wings, and a Kom'rk assault fighter, "appropriated" from Ezra's deceased adversary, Maul. The rebels were saved due to the intervention of Mandalorian volunteers, from Clan Wren.

She decided to take a completely random jump, avoiding the Perlemian Trade Route at all costs. A direct jump to Yavin would lead the Empire straight to Rebel command. All she knew was that the trajectory led her somewhere into Wild Space. Unfortunately, the remaining ships, already damaged, were running low on fuel.

Chopper's buzzing took Hera's attention away from the view port. "Chopper, I'm kinda in the middle of something! Go make yourself useful and boost power to the-"

Chopper interrupted with a harsh buzz."Mrrp-up-rp. Brrp-up-up-errz-up!"

Hera responded confused. "What do you mean you are detecting a long range transmission ping? We can't be at Rebel Command already..."

Hera turned back to the sensor interface and opened a new screen. She peered over the long range sensor logs.

"That's strange, these aren't Rebel frequencies. They aren't Imperial either."

It looked almost like a ship; no, a station or relay node of some kind. This was the source of the signal. Some kind of primitive sensor system utilizing radio signals to detect reverberations of the waves.

Hera opened a fleet-wide com channel. "This is Phoenix Leader, I'm getting a closer look at an anomalous reading."

Hera brought the _Ghost_ about, and punched sub-light engines to maximum. She attempted to send basic communication requests to satellite, but there was no response. The _Ghost_ approached the relay. Suddenly, a purple-white light erupted, piercing the darkness space. The _Ghost_ shook violently. Hera was thrown out of the pilot's seat due to the sheer force. She got back up, and attempted to regain control of her ship. Hera struggled to part the _Ghost_ to starboard. She narrowly missed a collision with the corvette _Freedom_.

The next thing Hera heard was Kanan's voice echoing through the coms. "Hera, Hera? What is going on out there?"

 **Bridge of the UNSC _Pioneer,_ May 2nd, 2570, perimeter satellite A-12**

"Status report!" barked Captain Marcus.

"Sir, we have exited slipspace several hundred kilometers off the port side of the perimeter satellite" notified the helm officer.

After that Marcus could only hear a cacophony of exclamations from the bridge crew.

"Multiple spikes of energy detected!"

"Detecting something on sensors!"

"These readings are not naturally occurring!"

"Oh my God!"

"Those are ships!"

Marcus stared out the main view screen of his bridge. The ships were of remarkable designs; many of them were lacking uniformity. Two had distinct hatchet or hammer-like bows, connected to three large cylindrical structures that appeared to be engines. Mounted on each side of the bows were what resembled dual-barreled turrets. The third ship had a similar hammer-like bow, but this far shorter and attached horizontally. This ship had a midsection that had several turrets assorted on it, with a large block-like aft with a several, smaller cylinders, presumably engines. Each ship was no longer than 150 meters. The ships were rather old-looking, with several scars and black marks dotting the hulls. These ships, Marcus noticed, clearly have seen better days.

Accompanying them were four, much smaller craft that resembled a delta, with two large engine units. There also were two craft that had looked much older in comparison, and were distinctly "Y' shaped. Additionally, there were two slightly larger craft, one compact with several turrets and large engines, and another, with two prongs for a bow and rotating wings. Finally, there were six fighters that resembled the large twin-pronged once, but smaller in size.

Captain Marcus fixated on the unknown vessels as the gravity of the situation began to weigh on him.

His First Officer, John Reed, spoke up. "Captain. I believe it is time to initiate first contact procedures."

Marcus turned to Reed. "This is a very precarious situation, we may be dealing with a first contact event. Send a priority message to Admiral Beyes alerting him of the situation. Begin a transmission on all known frequencies, and make it ship-wide."

 **Cockpit of the _Ghost,_ Phoenix Squadron, 2 BBY, Location Unknown**

The portal had disappeared, but what _emerged_ from it had shocked Hera. A ship of some sort, probably responding to the disturbance picked up by the relay node. It was fairly large, nearly twice the size of an Imperial cruiser, Hera guessed. It's bow almost resembled the beak of an avian. Its aft was more rectangular in design.

Soon the com channel became flooded with chatter from Phoenix Squadron.

"New contact, new contact!"

"Phoenix Leader, what is it?"

"Have the Imperials found us?"

Hera was unsure what to do next. She didn't recognize the design; it could belong to pirates, but very few could field ships of that size. Hera interrupted the com chatter.

"Phoenix Squadron, resume defensive formation, prepare to respond to an unknown vessel."

Hera then turned around to see Chopper interfacing with the computer.

"Chopper what are you doing?"

The droid returned back at her." "Mrrp-urn-mrrp-brrzp."

"Transmission? What transmission?"

The droid returned with more gargle.

"Isolate that signal Chopper, and prepare to receive communications!"

Chopper returned to the wall panel and extended his splicer tool. After a few clicks, Hera began receiving an audio transmission.

 _Unknown vessels. This is Captain Marcus of the UNSC Pioneer. Your vessels are trespassing near a United Nations Space Command administrated colony. Identify yourselves; we mean you no harm._

Hera had never heard of a "United Nations Space Command". Perhaps it was an Imperial umbrella company, or possibly a pirate organization. How one could go unnoticed under the Empire's iron grip, however, confused Hera even further. Now it was her turn.

"This is Hera Syndulla of the Rebel Alliance. We have no ill intentions of encroaching on your territory. We were forced to initiate random jumps to hyperspace to avoid Imperial entanglements. Our ships are badly damaged, we were attacked by Imperial forces, and are seeking safe passage through your territory."

Hera waited eagerly for a response.

 _[Static]...say again...Rebel...random...hyperspace...attacked...Imperial?_

 **Bridge of the UNSC _Pioneer,_ May 2nd, 2570, perimeter satellite A-12**

Captain Marcus was in disbelief. The only alien species humanity ever encountered were the member races of the Covenant, and Forerunner constructs, both of which were left behind in the Milky Way (and which have attempted to annihilate humanity). Now here he was in the middle of the first meeting between humanity and the first civilization of Andromeda. In addition, the aliens spoke _perfect_ English.

 _Rebel Alliance? Insurrectionists couldn't have traveled to Andromeda. And what is hyperspace...?_

Immediately after, Reed received a transmission from Admiral Beyes. He turned to the captain.

"Sir, transmission from the admiral."

Marcus returned back. "Send it to my terminal."

 _-URGENT - PRIORITY - ALPHA-_

ENCRYPTION CODE- 44582-3346-92002

 _Captain Marcus. If what you say is true, than this is a historical event we cannot let pass. Going against my better judgement and the Cole Protocol, I order you to bring the aliens to Cresh to formally begin negotiations between our two species. I have notified Ship master Vadumme of the situation. Home Fleet will be remain on standby if hostilities flare. We will be awaiting your arrival._

 _-TRANSMISSION END-_

Marcus closed the window on his terminal. He returned to the main view screen. "Reed, send the lead ship coordinates to Cresh."

Reed looked up in shock. "Captain?"

"I am aware we are violating the Cole Protocol. However, Admiral Beyes has given us direct orders. And if these aliens were hostile, I have a feeling either them or us would not be here having this discussion."

Reed, still confused, went to the communications monitor, and transmitted a message to the lead ship, containing coordinates to Cresh.

Marcus reopened communications with the aliens. "As representative of the UNSC, I am under orders to escort you to our nearest base to engage in formal diplomatic relations."

 **Cockpit of the _Ghost,_ Phoenix Squadron, 2 BBY, 'Cresh' system perimeter**

Hera reacted nervously. Coordinates to a "Cresh" system. Hera checked her star charts, there was no registered Cresh system? Surely it was an Imperial or mercenary trap. But other options were limited; there was not enough fuel to make it to Yavin, and nothing about the ship's design suggested it to be Imperial, or even pirate in origin.

At that moment Kanan and Ezra walked into the cabin.

Ezra spoke first, who sounded quite intrigued. "Hera, what is that ship? Are they reinforcements?"

"No, apparently some unidentified species that has never heard of a Galactic Empire."

Zeb rudely interrupted. "I don't buy it. If there's one thing the Empire is good at doing, it's laying traps. How is that possible anyways, an undiscovered civilization that has gone unnoticed, even from the Empire?"

Hera agreed. "I don't know, but I feel the same way. Unfortunately, we don't have much of a choice. We need fuel, and they may be willing to provide us some"

Hera looked up at Kanan, who was remaining silent. "What do you think about this?"

Kanan hesitated. "I'm not sure. Each new path we take, the closer we get or farther away we go from our destiny. We should take whatever path we require to get to Yavin and regroup with Rebel Command."

Hera nodded, and opened a fleet-wide transmission. "All ships, prepare to jump to hyperspace, at the following coordinates..."

Hera turned off the fleet transmission and opened the channel to the UNSC vessel. "Acknowledged. Our ships will meet you at the given coordinates, and we can meet in person."

 _...Roger that Hera Syndulla...standby for slipspace jump..._

The narrow, black-hulled ship turned roughly 100 degrees starboard, and in front of it's bow appeared a portal, the same type of which it emerged from.

 _Is that what they call "slipspace"?_ Hera thought.

It disappeared into the purple wormhole, and then the wormhole faded away. Then the remaining rebel ships jumped to hyperspace as well.


	4. Chapter 4: Earth, Alliance and Empire

**DISCLAIMER: Thanks for all the support for the story guys, I really appreciate it. And don't worry, some action is coming soon.**

 **The** _ **Ghost,**_ **Phoenix Squadron, 2 BBY, Cresh system**

The journey through hyperspace was a short one, yet Hera was unnerved due to the situation. She was in charge of the rebel survivors; if something happened to them, she would be responsible. Hera was unsure how she felt about this. She was so used to having to only worry about the _Ghost,_ and it's crew, now here she, leading a battered military convoy to a potential trap.

General Dodonna walked into the cockpit, his face was very solemn. Dodonna's Massassi Group cell lost a lot more men and ships than Phoenix Squadron had. The attack on Lothal was eagerly planned with the assistance of his fleet; that of which was wiped out completely over Atollon.

Dodonna spoke up. "Are you sure that this, 'UNSC' can be trusted, Captain Syndulla?"

Hera looked at the general, and looked back through the cockpit to view the torrent of lightspeed. "I'm not sure General. They didn't sound like they were giving us much of a choice. But if they were going to destroy us, why didn't they after their ship appeared?"

Dodonna, clearly expecting the response she had given, cleared his throat. "The Empire wants prisoners to make examples of. To reduce what little hope the galaxy has left."

Hera's lekku twitched, her face remained the same.

Another voice interjected. "Imperial interception protocol dictates immediate engagement and apprehension of insurgent and other suspected criminal forces. Whatever that ship was, it was not an Imperial one."

Hera turned around to see Agent Kallus. Formerly an Imperial Security Bureau agent who fought the crew of the _Ghost_ on several occasions, his new role as 'Fulcrum', the rebel spy codename, became a great asset to the rebels until his discovery as a rogue agent by Grand Admiral Thrawn.

He continued. "A ship like that appears more primitive in design than any Imperial or pirate vessel I know of. In my service with the Empire, I have never heard of the Empire hiring out mercenary organizations to perform operations."

His face was still bruised from his physical engagement with the Imperial Grand Admiral, and the following torture he endured. Although Hera and other rebels remained a little skeptical of a former Imperial joining the Alliance, he had proven to be a helpful and sincere ally.

The notification from the navigation computer signaled the arrvial to the coordinates from hyperspace. Hera turned back to the control interface and hit a few buttons. The surrounding vortex she was so used to had faded away abruptly, and the crew of the _Ghost_ crammed to see what was in visual range. The remaining ships extend as well, forming a tight screen around the _Ghost._

First there was a planet, covered in vibrant green and deep ocean blue. The first thing Hera attempted to compare it to was Alderaan. Surrounding the planet were several dozen ships, their designs varying. The most distinct one was the largest one.

Hera activated interior coms. "AP-5, report to the cockpit and scan the unknown vessels. Give me all the information you can on them."

A few moments late, Hera could hear the distinct, paced 'clunk' of the droid's feet. AP-5 hobbled in and situated himself at the sensor panel. "Initiating long range sweep."

After a few moments of silence, Ezra broke the silence. "Well AP-5? What can you tell us about those ships?"

AP-5 turned around, almost appearing irritated. He reoriented himself and spoke. "The largest vessel is nearly 6 kilometers in length. It's hull consists of some kind of ultra-dense durasteel. It's shielding utilizes some type of dual-layered energy shielding that doesn't not show up in our database. The hull is largely rectangular, with several hundred ducts, possible airlocks or weapon bays. The other ships are far smaller, about 1.4 kilometers in length, hexagonal hull shape, with similar ducts in the hull. The remaining vessels are much smaller, around 400-800 meters in length. Twin-pronged vertical hulls with opposing dual engine units."

AP-5 continued. "We are now receiving communication form the lead vessel. Putting it through now."

 _"This is Admiral Arthur Beyes of the UNSC Augustus. I would like to welcome you to Cresh. My AI will be sending you coordinates to the surface where you may land your ships, and we can finally meet on person. This will be a historic meeting between our two peoples, as I am sure you have as many questions as I do."_

General Dodonna looked at Hera, and nodded slowly. Hera opened the channel. "Understood Admiral. We will approach those coordinates and set down in the designated landing zones."

The com channel closed with a hiss. Hera looked throughout her cockpit; the faces all were slightly displaying caution, but Ezra and Kallus both seemed more intrigued than nervous.

"Alright." Hera said. "All of you, come with me. Chopper, I want you watch the ship. Alright, lets go get us some fuel."

 **Parliament Building, New Ottawa, May 3 2570, Cresh**

Admiral Beyes was nervous. Threatened? No. The aliens only had a few ships, much smaller than his. He was nervous because the last first contact humanity encountered resulted in a war that nearly brought about the extinction of the human race, all built on a lie at that. He had requested the Fleet of Retribution stay in orbit of Thel, with a dozen or UNSC warships with them. Beyes didn't want to crowd humanity's newest guests or have them feel threatened.

The Admiral had landed on the surface a few hours ago, with the Chief of State. He represented the human delegation. Shpmaster Rtas' Vadummee had landed prior to the Admiral, the Sangheili representation. The Admiral had requested Spartan Thorne, and Fireteam Majestic, top accompany him so he could introduce the aliens to humanity's saviors.

Thorne was to Beyes's right side, assault rifle holstered on his back. "Admiral, traffic control reports the alien vessels will be landing shortly."

The Admiral looked up. The parliament building absorbed most of the view; it was massive, nearly two kilometers tall. It was largely a dome, with two spires situated adjacent to each other, on the north side, the main entrance. The Admiral then identified several Broadsword fighter craft appear, escort far larger craft, of awkward designs.

 _Those are their capital ships? Rather small._

The Admiral was more amazed at the fighter craft accompanying it. Beautiful red and blue, twin-pronged ships, and their wings, he noticed, were aerodynamic? They rotated to match the winds!

Spartan Thorne interrupted him. "Sir, we should head inside and meet with the alien delegation."

The Admiral turned back and nodded, and went inside the parliament. The cool breeze faded and was replace dry air conditioning. After checking in with customs, the human delegation diverted to the west wing hallway to enter the main senate. The room was large; it encompassed the majority of the dome structure, with dozens of seats situated in front of the main podium for the Chief of State. The center of the room feature a table, not large at all, but made out of wood from the native trees on Cresh.

The Sangheili delegation was already seated. The Shipmaster's mandibles clicked. Behind him were four honor guard, wearing traditional Sangheili armor and staffs.

Then Spartan Thorne pressed his hand to his helmet. "Sir, traffic control reports the alien delegation to have landed. You aren't going to believe this sir..."

Beyes looked at Thorne inquisitively, but immediately reverted to his prior stance when the adjacent door on the other end of the room opened. Beyes attempted to take it all in.

First, he saw a green-skinned humanoid, with two, tail-like limbs extending from their head. They looked feminine enough. She was wearing what appeared to be pilot's suit, and on her waist was what appeared to be a holstered pistol of some kind. Behind her was what shocked Beyes the most.

It was a human! He was wearing a tunic of some kind, with a patch on his left breast. He was quite old in appearance, with wrinkles on his forehead and a large, white beard.

Next was a hulking creature, almost as tall as a Sangheili. It wore a similar tunic, with some sort of staff strapped on it's back. It's skin was a light purple, with even lighter strips. It's face appeared to be feline; two narrow, bright-green eyes gave it the distinct look.

Then there was a boy, in an orange jacket. He had short, dark hair. On his waist, Beyes noticed, was a cylinder or hilt of some kind.

Next to him was a man, in a tunic that almost looked like a robe. His face was nearly entirely covered by a mask; what wasn't was covered in a beard.

After him, was a man in a contrasting uniform to the others; gray, with blue and red palms on his breast. His face was quite bruised. He had very long, jagged side burns.

Next to the man was a short and slim figure wearing some type of battle armor, which was rather colorful. Clearly under the suit was a young woman. Intrigueingly, the armor was similar in appearance to Spartan armor. Some device was attached to her back, possibly a pack of some kind?

An older man was to her left, he had a large beard, and wore similar armor; which clearly did not fit him as well as the girl's did her.

Finally, there was a robot, Beyes guessed. It was humanoid and painted a very faded blue color, with a black visor for eyes?

Beyes smiled as they walked. "I am pleased to meet you. Please have a seat."

They sat down where seats could be found. The green one spoke first. "Admiral Beyes, I presume? I am Hera Syndulla, Captain in the Alliance to Restore the Republic. This is a lovely world; but my men and I have many questions."

Beyes was shocked again. Clear, perfect English. He attempted not to hesitate. "As do we. Let me introduce myself and my people. We are a species from a nearby galaxy. We traveled here to create a new home. We have a fleet of several dozen ships, and we colonized this world in hopes of exploring this galaxy and meeting new species, such as yourself."

He motioned towards the Sangheili delegation. "These are the Sangheili. They are our allies, and have joined us on our expedition."

The Shipmaster stood up and approached the "Alliance to Restore the Republic" delegation. His movement obviously startled the Alliance's guard contingent.

Admiral Beyes collected a tablet, and presented it to the Alliance delegation. "This contains a full detail of human history. We originated on a planet called Earth. After dozens of centuries, we evolved, improved in technology, fought wars with each other, then we discovered slipspace, and engaged in a golden age of colonial expansion."

Admiral Beyes turned to the Rtas' Vadumme, and began to digress. "We encountered the alien juggernaut known as the Covenant, in our year 2525. A colony world called Harvest, was annihilated by a single ship. They claimed we violated sacred artifacts, built by an advanced race now extinct, know only as the Forerunners. The Covenant was a theocracy, led by prophets who declared us as unclean, and heretics. The Sangheili were deceived, and became the architects of our destruction. For nearly thirty years the Covenant destroyed our fleets, burned our worlds, and eventually attacked Earth. The Covenant discovered a galaxy-spanning weapons array, known as the Halo array. Seven massive, planet-sized rings with temperate surfaces and atmospheres, yet capable of eradicating all sentient life in the galaxy. Only the actions of the Spartans, genetically engineered super soldiers, and the redemption of the Sangheili, saved us. After the war, we rebuilt, with the help of the redeemed Sangheili. Our government sponsored this expedition, and now we are here, standing here today."

 **Parliament Building, New Ottawa, 2 BBY, Cresh**

Hera and the _Ghost_ crew entered the large room. It resembled the senate building on Coruscant, only a much smaller scale. Hera saw a group of humans at a delegation table. Next to them were hulking figures in some sort of armor, resembling Mandalorian armor. At the other end were an alien race the likes of which Hera had never seen. They were larger than humans. They wore armor; their heads had 4 protruding mandibles rather than a single jaw. Their appearances startled Hera.

They sat down, and listened to the Admiral describe the prologue to the events of today. Hera was captivated.

 _Another galaxy. A war of complete genocide. Galaxy-destroying constructs. Genetically engineered superhuman soldiers?_

The Admiral concluded. Hera was unsure how to respond. "You must understand, this a lot for me and my men to take in. But now I believe it is our turn."

Hera began talking about the Old Republic, and how it brought order to the galaxy under a democratic republic. She described the Sith Wars, and the Jedi, and how the Jedi were the peacekeeping force of the Republic for millennia. She then described the corruption of the Republic. The militarization and outbreak of the Clone Wars. She described the clone troopers and armies of droids. The genocide of the Jedi and the installation of an autocratic regime dedicated to maintaining control over it's citizens. She concluded with the creation of rebel cells and the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

The Admiral on the other end of the table seemed as breathless as her. "That is...a quite remarkable history. I feel that it raises more questions than answers, but those are for another time."

The 'Spartan' next to the Admiral interjected. "If I may ask, what are the Jedi and Sith you mentioned?

Kanan stepped forward. "I believe I should answer that question."

"The Jedi were an order of peace-seeking beings capable of tapping into a universal energy know as the Force. It surrounds every living being. The Jedi are more sensitive of it than others; they can use it to help them or defend themselves..."

Kana than outstretched his hand and focused on one of the plants on the table. Reaching out with the force, it levitated about 5 feet off the table, and Kanan brought it back down.

The entire delegation of humans and Sangheili stared in complete awe.

Kanan continued. "There were others who didn't agree with the Jedi doctrine of non-violence. These were the Sith. They utilize the dark side of the Force, and use it to achieve their selfish desires and gain more power. The Sith fought several wars with the Jedi, until the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire, which then deemed all Jedi as enemies. Nearly every Jedi was wiped out by clone armies, against their own free will."

The Admiral hesitated to respond.

Ezra jumped in. "We are attempting to overthrow the Empire. When I was young, they killed my parents. They have committed many atrocities. They have separated families. Killed innocents. We need to fight them."

Hera looked back at Ezra, who was now looking at the ground. She continued. "We have formed a united front against the Empire to restore the Republic. Yet we are hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. We were recently attacked at our base."

Hera motioned towards General Dodonna. "Our forces used to be much larger. Nearly our entire fleet was wiped out. Unarmed transports destroyed. We need all the help we can get. Right now we need fuel to get to our command structure to regroup."

The Admiral began to pace back and forth. The man next to him responded. "I am Chief of State Roberts. I appreciate what you are trying to do. But you must understand I cannot simply outright engage in a war with a galactic power just based off the testimony given forth by you and your companions."

Hera nodded slowly. Roberts was not finished though. "However, this world, and the asteroid field of this system, are both rich in various materials. I'm not sure if we utilize the same fuel for our different methods of transportation. Let alone the process of extracting and refining it. But, I see nothing wrong with securing an economic relationship with the Alliance. We can begin preliminary agreements for trade of raw material, including fuel, at your request."

Hera's face lightened, as did her companions. "Any help we can receive from you is greatly appreciated. Thank you."

The man smiled. "It is my pleasure to be welcomed to your galaxy on a friendly note. This cooperation will greatly benefit our two peoples."

The calm atmosphere of the room suddenly began to fade.

Kanan spoke up, almost uttering a warning. "Something's wrong."

The Chief of State was about to inquire as to what he meant, when the lights of the room went out. Dim, blood-red emergency light appeared in their place.

Roberts turned towards Spartan Thorne. "What is going on...?"

Thorne replied, puzzled. "I wish I knew sir."

Suddenly, the entrance door behind the UNSC delegation unsealed and opened. Running in was a Parliament Guard Captain, with several escorts. He immediately approached the Chief of State.

"Sir, we need to get you to safety at once. The building is no longer secure."

Roberts was about to reply until the Admiral interrupted. "Captain, what is going on here? What do you mean the building is no longer secure?"

The floor shook violently as the vibrations of ricocheting metal rang throughout the room. The Admiral could smell smoke.

The Captain drew his MA5B assault rilfe, and turned to Admiral. "Sir, New Ottawa is under attack."


	5. Chapter 5: Songs of War, Part I

**Captain's Quarters, UNSC _Pioneer,_ May 2nd, 2570, Cresh Orbit**

The piercing noise of the emergency alarm rang through Marcus's head. He instinctively shot out of his bed and rushed to find his clothing and uniform. Basic training drill routines were stuck in his head since boot camp in the Epsilon Eridanus system. Marcus hurried to the cabin door and pressed the wall panel, and the door shot open.

Marines were rushing down the hall, likely hurrying to equip weapons and armor. Officers and crew followed suite. Marcus stepped out the cabin, attempting to catch light on the situation. He peered down the right and singled out Reed from the stampede.

"John! What the hell is going on?" asked Marcus.

Reed stopped and turned to him, confused by his request. "Captain, the fleet is under attack! The Admiral and alien delegations are trapped on the surface."

"Under attack!?" Marcus exclaimed in both confusion and worry. "From who?"

"Unknown sir! As of now, we are without a command structure!"

Reed looked over Marcus's shoulders and back at Marcus, "Captain, we have to get to the bridge!"

Marcus nodded and joined the convoy of men. An explosion rippled down the hall. Shrapnel propelled in all directions; several officers at the far end of the corridor were lacerated. One got back up and attempted to continue to the armory until another explosion, this time far closer to the crowd, erupted. His body was thrown back into a cluster of marines behind him. He was covered in third degree burns, blood covered his face.

Marcus rushed to the marines and yelled over the chaos. "Get him to sickbay!"

The marine in the center of the group nodded, and picked the injured crewman, and carried him away.

Damage control teams appeared almost immediately afterwards; they began to put out the electrical fires sparking from the walls.

Marcus renewed the sprint, Reed was close behind. Soon Marcus found himself inside the bridge of his ship. All seemed well, except for a terminal to his left, which was battered beyond repair.

Marcus's arrival caught the attention of several bridge crew.

"Captain on deck!" one shouted.

Marcus nodded and hurriedly seated himself in the captains chair. He looked through the main view port of the bridge. He saw emerald-green flares of light lancing from a cluster of ships. There were at least half a dozen, from what he could see, each followed the same design pattern. A distinct isosceles triangle, with a superstructure and raised tower in the back, possibly a command section.

Marcus fixated on the hail of fire out from his bridge. He flagged his communications officer.

"Send a priority transmission to the Fleet of Retribution. Notify Shipmaster Vadum of the situation, we require reinforcements. Unknown hostiles are attacking Cresh!"

The officer nodded and complied with the order.

He turned to another officer. "Status report!"

"Several power conduits have failed. We are losing power from the main reactor!"

"Hostiles are discharging some sort of directed-energy laser munitions at us. Definitely not plasma!" another officer interjected.

Marcus looked back up and covered his eyes; the laser fire was nearly blinding.

The same officer continued. "Sir, hostile warships are launching some sort of craft. Nine meters long, sixteen meters tall. Fighter craft sir!"

Marcus saw Longsword interceptors soar by the bow of the _Pioneer._ They were assuming defensive formations.

He turned to Reed and issued another order. "Divert power from the secondary reactor, give me all of the archer missile pods!"

A bridge officer interrupted. "We've lost the _Berlin_ and the _Say my Name_! _Augustus_ is moving in to draw their fire!"

"I have missile pods sir!" responded Reed.

Marcus looked at Reed. "Commander, fire at will."

 **Bridge of Imperial Star Destroyer _Allecto_ , 2 BBY, Rebel Headquarters**

Governor Arhinda Pryce allowed herself to form a smile. Thrawn may have dealt the Rebels a serious blow at their base on Atollon, but she had managed to track the survivors to their headquarters, and presumably, leadership.

She was quite shocked to see the defending fleet. It was far larger than anticipated, with nearly thirty ships, one of which was _huge._ But Pryce knew this was the entire massed strength of the Rebellion. Matching Captain Syndulla's fleet movement with the primitive communications signal her fleet picked up, she deduced the location of the rebel headquarters to be off the Hydian Way, an uncharted system.

She requested to operate alone. After her humiliating error of allowing the rebels survivors to escape Atollon, she was determined hunt them down to regain her pride. After consulting with Grand Moff Tarkin, he granted her request to take a fleet. Thrawn did not appear to agree with Tarkin's orders, but kept silent.

Pryce took a fleet of six star destroyers, ten light cruisers, and an interdictor cruiser. Roughly worth a single sector patrol.

Soon, she would crush the accursed rebellion, and return to Lothal victorious. _Perhaps,_ the thought, _I will be promoted upon my victory to Grand Moff!_

One of her officers spoke up. "Governor, we are in range of the rebel ships."

"Then open fire!" she shot back. "And begin launching our fighters. I want several squadrons to attack the Rebel presence on the surface. And begin landing preliminary ground divisions."

She gazed out the command tower as dozens of turbolaser bolts lanced from her fleet, coupled with swarms of TIE/LN starfighters. The rebel ships immediately began to take severe damage.

One of the rebel cruisers violently erupted into flames, which soon faded in the vacuum of space. Another ship veered to its port side and collided with the remains of the first ship.

The officer spoke again, surprised. "Governor, several of the targets appear to be unshielded. They are now launching fighters."

 _Unshielded?_ she thought.

Rebel cells were often resource-strapped; they utilized whatever ships and weapons they could, from transports to civilian freighters. But unshielded vessels were quite rare.

Another officer spoke. "Enemy ships are beginning to fire missiles."

"Missiles?" she questioned out loud.

 _The rebels must be very desperate to resort to such weak weapons._

Nearly every ship in the galaxy was equipped with ray shielding. Most military vessels also had particle shielding. Ray shields absorbed low level radiation and blaster fire. Particle shields on the other hand, stopped solid objects. Utilized together, the two created a well-protected deflector shield that encompassed a given ship, defending it from either threat.

Out of the bridge she saw dozens, no hundreds of tiny flares; propellant for the missiles. The veered towards the capital ships. The majority of them were picked off by point-defense lasers. A few dozen made it out of the defensive screen. Several struck the star destroyer _Indomitable_.

The shields on the warship flared a bright teal blue, and then faded; the hull was unscathed. The missiles failed to penetrate the shields.

Pryce's smile widened. The battle would be over sooner than she thought.

The star destroyers turbolaser batteries unleashed a torrent of bright, jade-green laser fire. The darkness of space was illuminated by the volley of fire from the Imperial fleet. It struck the smaller ships first. Without shields, the vessels immediately succumbed to hull breaches.

The second wave of turbolaser bolts struck the hull of the lead ship; they melted through it like a lightsaber through Corellian butter. Two more ships moved to intercept, but were caught in the same volley of fire.

 **Bridge of the UNSC _Pioneer,_ May 2nd, 2570, Cresh Orbit**

"No effect, I repeat no effect from the archer missiles!" reported a tactical officer

Marcus's face grew stark. He turned to Reed. "Status on the Admiral?"

Reed checked the com panel and shook his head.

"He's still on the surface. Several enemy craft have breached our defenses and have begun attacking the capital directly."

Marcus looked out his bridge to view the onslaught. Dozens of odd, "H" shaped fighter craft were swarming the friendly ships in front of the _Pioneer._ The fleet didn't know what to do, because it had no one giving orders.

Marcus focused himself and flagged the communications officer. "Open a fleet wide channel."

"This is Captain Marcus of the Pioneer. I am taking command of the fleet. Augustus, take center lead of the fleet. I want heavy cruisers to assume defensive formation Sigma. Destroyers, spread out, 1,200 kilometers distance between each other. All frigates, assume defensive screen around the destroyers. Were going to give them hell."

"Sir, I know what you are going to do, shall I divert all weapons power to the forward MAC guns?"

It was Reed, who just barely managed to form a smile on his face.

Marcus the smile and nodded. "Have the fleet do the same."

One of tactical officers stood up and faced the admiral. "Sir, initial readings suggest the warships energy shields to be multi-layered. They utilize similar patterns to Covenant shielding."

The Captain frowned. Halberd destroyers hand't received the upgrades capital ships such as the Autumn-class had. The _Pioneer_ 's MAC cannons were fitted during the Covenant War, and they were the Mark II type. It took at least three Mark II MAC shots to penetrate Covenant shielding.

 _If these hostile ships have shielding similar to the Covenant, it's going to take the combined fire power of the fleet to take them down,_ he thought.

Another volley of green laser fire struck the _Pioneer,_ the ship shook violently. An explosion ripple from the port side, debris and bodies plummeted into the vacuum.

"Captain, we have a hull breach on Deck 3, sections 2-5!" an officer reported.

Marcus closed his eyes as he saw a body drift by the bridge.

"Seal off those decks. Get damage control teams there immediately." ordered Marcus.

"We've lost the _Calcutta,_ the _Edge of the Sword,_ and the _Soul Bravo_!" an officer alerted.

He then turned to Reed. "Mr. Reed, I believe we have run out of patience. Get me the fleet, tell them to target the lead wave of ships."

Reed interacted with the terminal and looked back at Marcus.

"Sir, I have the fleet, they're standing by, MAC's are hot and ready."

Marcus uttered the word the crew had been urgently waiting for.

"Fire."

The Magnetic Accelerator Cannon had was one of the most powerful ship-mounted weapons the UNSC could muster. Although various types existed, varying in yields and range, the technology and resulting carnage was universally the same: A large coilgun embedded in the universally-elongated hull of all UNSC ships. Using electromagnetism, an extremely large current is put through the coils of the weapon, attracting the rod. The slug passes through each successive coil, gaining immense kinetic energy as it's velocity increases until it fully exits the ship. The standard Mark-II MAC cannon carries a 600-ton tungsten or depleted-uranium rod capable of speeds of 30 kilometers per second.

It was a symphony of war; several dozen muzzle flashes ruptured the darkness of space, trails of chemical residue behind 9.1 meter shells of death. The distinct reverberations of each ship, Marcus could swear, he heard, in a distinct crescendo.

The rounds from the _Pioneer_ struck the lead triangular ship; its hull creaked and moan under the immense pressure, its shields flared into a torrent of raging teal blue, attempting to disperse all of the force it received. Then the second round hit, the shields struggled to remain active, scorch and blast marks began to appear on the vessels hull. The heat was beginning to pass through the shields.

Almost simultaneously, the other slugs impacted their respective targets; roughly two dozen slugs successively impacted the smaller cruisers in the attacking fleet. The first round was sufficient to cripple the small class of ship. The second and, for a few unlucky ships, the third round that hit them annihilated them, leaving only a cluster of twist metal hull fragments left.

Beyond that, a few MAC slugs managed to keep on going, impacting the larger capital ships.

Then, the _Augustus'_ s Series-8 dual MAC's fired. Two depleted-uranium shells soared like a shooting star, at a fraction of the speed of light, with the ever dwindling gap of about 50,000 kilometers between the opposing fleets diminishing. To flashes of blinding white light erupted as the slugs impacted the shields of one of the lead capital ships.

The shields at first, appeared as if they were retaining their strength. Then the illuminating barrier of blue faded abruptly. The second slug impacted the ships rising midsection; and gutted the vessel from mid to stern. Violent explosions ensued all throughout the ship. It's main reactor, no doubt, had been completely destroyed.

The ship engulfed completely in a fireball that lasted for a few seconds; the burning of an oxygen atmosphere.

The same result was displayed with several other ships.

Marcus viewed his theater of war. Numerous fireballs were fading away in distance.

Tactical display were illuminating his bridge.

"Sir, three capital ships destroyed, one disabled. Eight of the ten smaller escorts destroyed. The second capital ship type has remained undamaged as well. That leaves five active warships sir." a tactical officer notified.

It would be awhile until the MAC bombardment would be available again.

Marcus paced the bridge, considering his options. It would be suicide to attempt a boarding operation; enemy fighters were still harassing the fleet, and the capital ships likely had point-defense cannons. Pelicans would be shot down before they could even break orbit.

"Any communications from the surface?" he asked the coms officer.

He checked the terminal and shook his head. "No sir, several hostile vessels have landed on the surface, likely the beginning of a ground invasion."

 _Ground invasion? This attack clearly had some degree of preparation, but from who?_

He returned to the crewman. "Any further transport or support craft attempting to make to the surface?"

He shook his head again. "No sir, what little craft the enemy has left that hasn't reached the surface is being engaged by our fighters."

Another stream of laser fire from the remaining ships struck the UNSC blockade. The _Pioneer'_ s hull morphed and creaked under the pressure. Without shielding, it could not take much more.

The crewman continued. "Captain, Shipmaster Vadum reports he cannot come to our aid. One of the ships is generating some type of gravimetric distortion field interrupting the slipspace jump."

Marcus boomed over the chaos. "Get me the fleet. I want a coordinated archer missile strike on that lead-."

Reed interrupted him. "Captain, the recent barrage destroyed our communications relay, the fleet isn't receiving us!"

Marcus slammed his on the arm of his chair. "Dammit!"

Another violent explosion ripped through the bow of the ship. Marcus could only hear a cacophony of cries from his bridge.

"Sir, we've lost the primary MAC cannons!"

"The _Augustus_ has lost her shields"

"We've lost the _Paladin_ and _Prime Meridian!_ "

"Hull breaches on Decks 1-2, and 5!"

"Sir, what are we going to do?"

Marcus puzzled over his reduced options. His ship couldn't fire. He couldn't communicate with the fleet. His reinforcements were being trapped, and his ship was sinking.

He recalled studying the Battle of Psi Serpentis during his time in boot camp. Cole's Last Stand. Famous for his use of shiva nukes to ignite a brown dwarf into a star, annihilating an entire Covenant armada.

Admiral Cole's ship launched it's entire payload of archer missiles, officially to ignite the giant along with the nukes. However, theorists suggested they server another purpose, as background radiation suggested a last-ditch slipspace jump. The archer missiles were thought to have been used to cover the ship's escape.

Marcus realized what he had to do to save his crew, and the fleet.

He opened interior coms, and made it ship-wide. "Crew of the _Pioneer,_ this is the captain. Abandon ship, I repeat, abandon ship!"

The entire bridge crew stared at him, knowing what the captain was going to do.

"That means you too!" he barked at them.

The crew looked at each other, but didn't budge. Reed stepped forward.

"Sir, with all due respect, we're not going anywhere."

Marcus nodded, and the crew took their respective seats.

"Remind me to issued a formal request for court martial, in light of disobeying a direct order from commanding officer." he said sarcastically.

Reed turned around and smiled, and returned to his terminal.

Marcus issued an order to the helm officer to move into an intercept course. The ship emitting the gravity disturbance was highlighted on Marcus's terminal to his left. As the _Pioneer_ propelled forward, several lifeboats jettisoned from the hull, along with the remaining fighters in the hangar. Visual contact with the ship was secured.

It followed a similar, triangular shape. It was slightly smaller than the capital ships, with four massive domes protruding from the dorsal and ventral hull.

Soon alongside it's hull, the traditional laser fire struck from closely-situated turret batteries. The _Pioneer,_ took the beating for the fleet.

Marcus motioned to the tactical officer. "Fire!"

 _Pioneer_ fired every remaining missile she had. They weren't aimed for a specific target however. They harmlessly detonated once they were clear of the ship they launched from. Debris from the missiles and from the _Pioneer_ had begun to cloud the view out of the bridge.

Marcus looked forward through his bridge, one last time. The emerald green laser fire that had engulfed his view had ceased. They thought the ship had been destroyed.

The _Pioneer_ emerged from the debris field, the gap between it and the cruiser less than 500 kilometers now.

Marcus closed his eyes and spoke allowed to his remaining crew.

"It was an honor serving with you."

 **Bridge of Imperial Star Destroyer _Allecto_ , 2 BBY, Rebel Headquarters**

Pryce opened her eyes. She was on the floor of her bridge. Her world had turned black, and she couldn't hear anything. What had happened, she vaguely remembered.

The rebels had fired projectile weapons at her ships. Crude, primitive weapons she previously thought.

The results however, were unexpected. Four _S_ tar Destroyers were no longer in formation. The same could be said for eight Arquitens cruisers.

Pryce collected herself and stood up.

"Status report on the fleet!" she yelled.

"We've lost the _Indomitable,_ the _Basilisk,_ the _Crusher,_ and the _Admonitor_ is severely damaged!" reported an officer.

Another added in. "Eight light cruisers destroyed as well!"

Unbelievable. _Four_ Imperial Star Destroyer eliminated by a single volley? Casualties and margins of those numbers were unacceptable.

Pryce issued another order without thinking. "Return fire, give them the full force of the Empire!"

The officer looked up at her, discerned by her order. "Governor, our shields are down to 44%, and the rebels outnumber us, we should call for-"

"You will carry out my orders, or I will find someone else who can!" Pryce shot back.

The officer, displaying a sense of fear, initiated another barrage.

Streaks of green turbolaser fire erupted once again from the now diminished attack fleet. The opposing rebel ships were clearly recharging their weapons, and began to suffer more losses.

Pryce's renewed glory was cut short by an interruption from one of the bridge officers.

"Governor, I am detecting a new energy reading. Possibly rebel reinforcement!"

"Then tell Captain Anteon to activate the gravity wells on his ship!" Pryce returned back.

Following the order, the interdictor to the left of the _Allecto_ ignited its gravity wells.

 _There will be no escape or reinforcements for these criminals,_ she thought to herself.

She looked onward at the battle in front of her. Her remaining Star Destroyers were engaging in long-range bombardment of the rebel fleet. The cruisers had assumed a defensive posture around the capital ships. A few squadrons and transports also managed to bypass the rebel blockade, and reach the surface.

One of the tactical officers then interrupted Pryce. "Sir, one of the rebel ships is breaking formation, they're moving into attack position. Port side."

Pryce lifted her eyebrows in surprise. The rebels had already sacrificed their flagship at Atollon to destroy an interdictor.

 _What makes them think the same maneuver will work in their favor twice?_ she questioned to herself.

"Change targets, all ships, target the lead rebel ship" she announced.

Turbolaser fire shifted only slightly to accommodate for the new target. Chewing into the hull of the ship, Pryce began to smile.

One of the officers spoke up. "Governor! It's on a collision course with the interdictor!"

Pryce smile widened. The same trick would not pass again.

Suddenly, the a cloud of explosions began to erupt, encompassing the entire ship. Clusters of metal debris began to appear.

Pryce's, appearing satisfied with the results, opened the fleet-wide com channel. "All ships, cease fire!"

The orchestra of munitions ceased, all eyes were on the light show put up by the apparent destruction of the rebel ship.

Abruptly thereafter, a massive explosion embellished the battlefront. Pryce's smile faded and changed into a scowl. Looking out the view port of the bridge, all that remained of the interdictor was a chunk of it's engine unit, parts of its bridge, and a morphed and bent triangular hull. Circling it, a massive cluster of debris, much of which was not painted in the traditional Imperial gray.

"What. Just. Happened!" she boomed throughout the bridge.

The tactical officer spoke up, with a hint of fear. "The interdictor has been destroyed, evidence suggests a collision of some kind!"

"Impossible! I saw the rebel ship burn right in front of me!" she yelled back.

Pryce was about to give the order to fully engage the rebel fleet until she felt a massive shockwave reverberate through the ship.

"Massive radiation signatures on long range sensors. I've never seen anything like this!" a crewman interjected.

Pryce stared in awe as she viewed a massive wormhole of some kind. It appeared to tear through the very fabric of space, with a bright purple hue.

"What is going on!" she barked out.

"New contacts, new contacts!" her tactical officer yelled out.

"Several ships of unknown design appear to be _emerging_ from the portal!" another added.

"Governor, their firing something at us! Some sort of directed plasma weapon!" the first, now panicked, added.

Pryce's heart began to race as the gravity of the situation began to press on her.

"Re-return fire!" she stammered.

"I can't, our turbolasers aren't in range!" her tactical officer said.

Pryce stared at the alien ships. Their designs were ubiquitous, yet at the same time, different. They had sweeping organic curves to them, and bulbous midsections, and were quite large in comparison to her Star Destroyer. The hulls were a beautiful color of purple, Pryce could almost complement them.

"We've lost the _Convor_!" a panicked officer alerted.

"Our shields are down!" another added.

Pryce saw the rebel fleet beginning to disengage, and head towards what was left of her fleet. One of the alien ships began to assume a similar formation to her Star Destroyer.

"The lead alien vessel is launching some kind of craft!" the panicked tactical officer reported.

Governor Pryce rushed over to the com station; the officer stationed there was dead from a piece of shrapnel, gorged in his skull.

She pressed a button, and opened a ship-wide transmission.

"This is the Governor. Be prepared to repel rebel boarders." she managed to choke out.

"This is not a drill."


	6. Author's Note

How do I start! Thank you guys so much for your support and enjoyment of the story so far. As you can probably tell, I wanted to make the Halo and Star Wars universes seem quite balanced, despite the difference in technology.

I wanted to make it seem that the Empire and the Rebels would be appear to stronger than the UNSC (at first), given the technology gap between the universes. In several ways, such as MAC's, Spartans, the UNSC would have the upper hand. Plus the Covenant.

Several reviews have been criticizing the inaccuracies portrayed with the dimensions and physics of the Interdictor field and slipspace in Chapter 5. My response is sincere: I was incorrect in my application of slipspace and interdiction fields, I am no expert in physics, but we must all remember one thing: neither of these are real. Many components behind them are, yes, but there is no "Slipspace" or "Interdictor". This is science _fiction,_ please remember! This is more of a "what if", since they are from different universes, it takes a different perspective on both universes's knowledge of physics; basically, we wouldn't know 100% what would happen until we develop the technology ourselves.

 **My biggest flaw** , I have heard from several critics (which I appreciate your comments), **is the dialogue and transitions**. It is, a bit choppy, and does not flow very well, which also has led to rather poor character development and a rather fast-paced story that I really did not intend for. It is very difficult for me to write dialogue and make it flow. **If anyone has any tips or advice, please feel free to message me!**

I apologize for the delay of the next chapter, but school is really crushing me right now! Several final projects are swamping up time, as well as _six_ final exams are also on the horizon. I'm unsure how long this story will span, it really depends on how much interest you guys put into it. I just don't want to stop writing and leave the story hanging, but I will warn that there probably will be intermissions of several days without new chapters, so please be patient!

Chapter 6 has already been started, and I will attempt to finish soon, and Chapter 7 will also be on its way. Thank you guys again for all the support!


	7. Chapter 6: Songs of War, Part II

**Sorry for the delayed upload guys. School's really starting to take a toll on my time, and exams are right around the corner. You can expect some delays like this, but believe me, the story is _far_ from over. Hell, it just started! I will probably upload one chapter every weekend or two until summer can begin, which is when I can really churn out the story. **

**Okay enough of me, here you go guys.**

 **Parliament Grounds, New Ottawa, May 3rd, 2570, Cresh**

Despite the initial caution of settling in a largely unexplored galaxy, the UNSC expeditionary force had never taken any large-scale safety measures to guard Cresh. It was never envisioned that it would come under direct assault; those who were more cautious had believed that any alien attempt of invading the planet would be prevented by the orbiting fleet. As a result, the UNSC was completely caught off guard by the Imperial surprise attack. The military presence on Cresh was minor, and the majority of the military apparatus remained on board the _Augustus._ Subsequently, the the civilian population was a prime target for the Imperial bombardment.

The human consulate was under close escort by the parliament security forces. Behind them was the Alliance delegation, also closely protected by their escorts. However, a gap between the two was present; suspicions had not been settled yet.

The panic and chatter converged to create a sense of chaos. Much of the staff had already been evacuated. The Alliance delegation had been whispering between one another for some time now.

Spartan Thorne heard the words "Empire" come up more than once.

Thorne and the rest of Fireteam Majestic were in lead. Thorne had equipped is MA5B assault rifle. The standard for UNSC marine forces for decades, the tried-and-true weapon retained an adjustable magazine of 32-64 rounds.

To his left was Carlo Hoya, famously brandishing his Battle Rifle. To his right, Tedra Grant, with her DMR in her right hand, an M6 combat pistol in her left. And behind him, Madsen, with a sniper rifle holstered.

They had become his family; they fought together for years, becoming harmonious in the art of war. They could always rely on each other.

Thorne and Majestic were sprinting down the corridor, east wing. After running for some time, the group identified an exit to their far left. Immediately, Thorne raised his hand, to halt the Spartans.

"Footsteps." Thorn notified. He turned to the rest of Majestic. "Paced. Several of them. Prepare for contact."

The consulates took cover where cover could be found. However, one of the Alliance members, the tall and bulky alien, got up and took lead with the Spartans.

Thorne looked at the tall creature, attempting to hide his disgust. "What do you think you're doing?" he inquired.

The alien pulled up his right hand, reached over his soldiers, and brandished some sort of staff. The creature looked back Thorne. "This isn't the first time I've seen combat. I'm not going to let you guys hog all the fun."

With the press of a button, the hilt extended two arms, which ignited a purple-hued electric arc, resembling a taser, albeit on a much larger scale.

Thorne nodded, almost with a smile, as the door began to hiss.

The door busted open with a concussive force, an explosion of some kind. A hail of ruby-red laser fire emerged from the doorway.

"Take cover!" Thorne yelled.

One of the security officers screamed as a bolt struck him bellow the chest. Within a few moments, he was dead.

From the doorway, a group of figures in clad-white armor emerged, holding black rifles. The rain of laser fire continued.

Thorne motioned towards Madsen, and he nodded back at him. Thorne withdrew from the pillar he was behind and took charge.

Raising the assault rifle, he aimed at the lead soldier, and fire a controlled burst of three bullets. They struck the man's chest, three marks of blood began to drip as he crumpled to the ground. Next, it was Madsen's turn.

He pulled out a shotgun, peered to his left; and fired straight into the crowd. Three armored soldiers flinched as they were struck with a dozen 12 gauge pellets, and proceeded to collapse. Clearly, the armor did give much protection.

Two more appeared, flashing red bolts at Madsen. His yellow shield rippled as it absorbed the damage. He proceeded to take cover.

Then, the Alliance alien charged the two soldiers. He dodged the flurry of bolts quite easily; they were hardly accurate. He kicked the soldier on his left, spun around, and met his face with his fist. Thorne heard a piercing _crack_ ; the figure's neck had been broken.

The alien then swung at the second soldier with his staff. The electrified end met the soldier's chest dead-center. His body began to flail; his arms began to violently surge. He was being electrocuted. After a sufficient amount of time, he fell to ground.

The doorway was clear, smoke began to fill the air.

The creature turned to Thorne. "Stormtroopers." he growled. "The name's Garazeb Orrelios. You can call me Zeb."

Thorne smiled under his helmet and outstretched his hand. "I'm Spartan Thorne, commander of Fireteam Majestic."

Zeb looked at him oddly, but proceeded to shake his hand.

Then Thorne snapped to attention. "Alright Majestic, move out!"

The Alliance and UNSC congress proceeded through the doorway, walking over the corpses of the white figures. The convoy of troops proceeded to reach the lower level of the parliament building. Internal fires had rendered several paths impassable.

Roberts spoke up from the back, and pointed down the hall. "There! Spartans, I can see the exit!"

He was pointing towards the large, metal gateway roughly 30 meters down the hall.

"Alright, you guys heard the man, lets get out of here!" Thorne announced.

The group had made it less than half way there when the booming roar of an engine pierced the room. Through the windows, Thorne saw several, "H" shaped craft strafing the courtyard and surrounding buildings. Green streaks were melting away at skyscrapers, many of them civilian housing and work places.

 _Their shooting at civilian structures. It's like the Covenant all over again,_ he thought.

Suddenly, one of the fighters broke formation, headed straight towards the parliament building.

Thorne turned back to the group. "Everyone get down!"

The Spartans took safety positions as the consulates dived to the ground. A stream of emerald-green laser fire impacted the window. An explosion shattered the line of glass and busted the wall down.

The explosion had deafened several of the security troopers, causing them to fall to the ground, covering their ears. It was then, that the Alliance captain Hera was crushed fallen debris from the wall. She screamed in pain as it crushed her chest.

The "Jedi" behind her immediately sprinted to remove her from the concrete wall, but it was too heavy. Thorne barked at Majestic. "Get the consulate out of here, head for the north tower. Call for a pelican!"

Thorne received several nods from his teammates, and they collected the UNSC delegation, and were off.

Thorne darted towards Hera. He reached under the fallen debris and heaved. He was surprised; it was quite heavy, even for him, with genetically enhanced strength. He breathed in, and lifted. The pillar was raised above her.

The Jedi then both presented their open palms, horizontally. They reached out, and the Alliance captain was pulled from the debris; without a single hand laid on her. Thorne looked at her for any wounds. He was no doctor however; an inter-species one at that.

Looking up at the bearded Jedi, he motioned towards her. The Jedi responded. "She's bruised pretty bad, but she'll be fine, as long as we can get her to a medical station."

Thorne stood up and removed his helmet. "We need to get you to your ships. Get her medical treatment."

The Jedi nodded, and took up Hera in his arms.

"My team won't be going anywhere until we can take out those fighters!" Thorne warned. "We need to destroy their fighters before we can proceed with civilian evacuations. Can your ships fight?"

The Jedi nodded. "Most of our ships are damaged." he replied. "But they should be able to fly."

Thorne took his Mjolnir Recruit helmet and placed it back over his head. His visor interface lit up; the top bar filled, his shields were back to full strength.

"Alright. We need to move out to the landing pad." he said. "Roughly a klick away, north of the parliament."

After a series of simultaneous complies from the delegation, Thorne stepped out through the rubble and remains of the wall that was demolished. The Alliance members followed.

The street down the building was rather wide, roughly 120 meters in width, with columns and pillars lining the railings of the stairs. Straight ahead was the central plaza of New Ottawa.

Thorne's visor magnified on the center plaza. A group of the white-armored "stormtroopers" had rounded up a large group of civilians. There were at least twenty of them. They were surrounding a large fountain, with what appeared to be an officer in front of the troopers. The civilians were bonded at their wrists, and kneeling on the ground. The stormtroopers's rifles were pointed at their heads.

"The Empire is going to make an example of them." Zeb spoke up.

Thorne's magnification returned to its default state, and Thorne turned back to Zeb.

"Well then." Thorne began.

"I guess were going to have to make examples of _them_ first."

The hulking alien grinned at him. He turned to to the slim armored figure behind him.

"Sabine. I'm going to need a few thermal detonators..." Zeb said to the figure.

Sabine, the armored figure Zeb had referred to, reached to their waist. They removed two spherical devices, Thorne could only guess they were some type of explosives.

They were tossed at Zeb, who caught both. He returned to Thorne.

"Here's the plan. I'm going to toss these in the air, frighten and deafen the bucket-heads." he began.

"Then, you and Sabine's clan are going to rush the guards, kill the officer, and free the civilians."

Thorne admired the tactility of the plan. It was brutally simple; cut the head off the snake, and ravage the remains.

"Alright, let's move in close." Thorne said. "Were going to get in range, and take position behind those pillars surrounding the fountain."

"We'll take the the west end, you take the east." Zeb said.

Thorne nodded and led the way. He and the Sabine's warriors mantled over the side of the stairs, brushing by several buildings to the right of the central plaza.

The main Alliance group had taken the left; they would flank the Imperials.

Thorne had rounded the second building when he began to hear a voice, in almost a British accent.

"...you would not be in this situation had you not provided asylum for these rebel terrorists!"

Peering from behind the building, the Spartan saw human in gray military uniform; clearly an officer of some kind.

The man began to pace in front of the hostages.

"The Empire provides order, unity, and security to the galaxy. It is filth like you that breed anarchy!"

 _What sickening perspective of order does this "empire" have?_ Thorne thought.

The officer was interrupted by one of the civilians. "We do not who you are or know what you are talking about!"

It was a young man, perhaps in his twenties. He began to stand now.

"We haven't harmed anyone, and you come here in the name of peace and ravage our city!" he adamantly directed towards the man.

The officer motioned towards one of the stormtroopers. The man was silenced by a laser bolt to the head. The group of civilians screamed in terror as his body fell on its knees, and then to the side.

The officer then began to pace again.

"Anymore rebellious behavior will have consequences!" he bellowed over the crowd.

Thorne began to grip his rifle tighter. An repeating _beeping_ noise began to distract him. Turning behind him, an interface on Sabine's right forearm was illuminating green.

Sabine whispered to Thorne. "The signal. Get ready."

Thorne turned back to the officer, who had now drawn out a child of no more than 10 years. The boy began to cry as he was torn from the arms of his parents.

"You people endanger your children by placing them in front of conflict?" he inquired loudly.

The man pulled out a side arm, and drew it towards the boy's head, whose face was saturated with tears.

Thorne was about to pull his index finger to send a bullet between the man's eyes until two explosions erupted in the air above the fountain. The civilians began to cower in fear. A flurry of laser bolts then lanced out from behind debris from a building, striking several stormtroopers, who subsequently dropped.

Thorne instinctively charged, with Sabine and her group behind him. A group of three stormtroopers were laying suppressing fire on Zeb's team, not noticing Thorne.

He quickly dispatched them with the spray of his MA5B. Another two turned to face him. They fired ruby-red laser bolts at him. Thorne's personal shields began to shimmer yellow as the energy impacted the defensive screen.

Thorn returned the favor; a hail of lead poured into their chests, dropping them to ground.

The roar of fire turned Thorne's attention back to center of the battle. The fountain became cover for several civilians as the Alliance forces and Imperial troops exchanged fire. Above them, several of the warriors to his lifted into the air; they had jetpacks attached to their armor.

 _Jetpacks? These people are more like us than I thought._

Thorne ear's alerted him to the sounds of footsteps amid the firefight. He turned behind him to see a stormtrooper at least 10 feet away with his weapon raised; he had not even aimed yet. All it took was a few more bullet to put him down.

Returning to the combat in front of him, the remaining stormtroopers were killed by Zeb's rifle as he approached.

Thorne checked the surrounding area for any more hostiles, and proceeded to the shackled civilians. Thorne kneeled by an elderly woma, at least in her eighties. Next to her was a middle-aged man with several bruises on his face, and next to him was presumably his wife.

Thorne freed them from their wrist restraints, and attended to the rest of the civilians.

The boy who had been chosen for execution rose from the ground and darted to them. He ran and collapsed into his mother's arms, sobbing.

The man got up and approached Thorne, and gripped his armored hand, shaking it. "Thank you so much Spartan. You and your team saved us!" he cried.

Thorne finished the handshake and returned to the family.

"There is no need to thank me. This is exactly what we were made for." Thorne replied.

After receiving another dozen smiles and handshakes, Thorne scanned the plaza for the officer until he spotted him by the north end of the plaza. Zeb was gripping him by his head, holding him in the air as if he was a rag doll.

"Put me down you filthy Lasat!" he shrieked.

"Well If that's what you want." Zeb sarcastically replied.

Zeb promptly dropped the man, he impacted the pavement face-first with a _slap._

Thorne walked over to hims, almost casually.

"Well look at what we have here? No big Empire to back you up now, huh?" Thorne sarcastically remarked.

The officer picked himself off of the ground, and snorted. "You rebel scum will never win. I won't talk, you'll have to kill me!" he declared.

The seven foot tall Spartan towered over the officer, reached down and grabbed him by his throat. He did it quite carefully, as applying too much pressure would crush his neck.

"That can be arranged. But something tells me you would be far more useful to us alive." Thorne retorted.

The officer began gasping for air, so Throne promptly let go of him. But not before he took a pair of the wrist restraints and tightened them around the man's wrists.

Throne looked up at the Alliance delegation, which was eagerly watching the events unfold. "The area is secure, and civilian targets have been rescued." he reported.

"I hope you guys take prisoners." he added, with a small grin hidden behind his helmet.

The old, bearded general by the name of Jan Dodonna answered with a smile. "We do now."

Thorne nodded and turned to the civilians.

"Alright, the you need to stay and hide underground until evac can arrive. Retreat in the subway stations. Marines will be dispatched to those locations to evacuate you!" he said with haste.

They began to get up with their things, as Thorne turned back to the Alliance. "Alright, now, lets get to those ships of yours. We have a battle to win here!"

 **Downtown, New Ottawa, May 3rd, 2570, Cresh**

By the team the rest of Majestic and UNSC consulate had reached Downtown New Ottawa, the sky had almost entirely been blackened by smoke and debris. Despite this, the demolished skyscrapers on the horizon were quite visible.

They were all in an active sprint; heavy boots pounded the pavement of the streets.

Madsen turned behind him as he continued the sprint.

"We are heading to the Hall of Sacrifice building complex for immediate extraction. Pelicans from Fort Hood are en route." he informed them, the crunching of their boots drowning much of the words.

The Admiral and the Chief of State nodded to acknowledge the Spartan.

Besides the noise of the Spartan's and other human's boots, the road was quite, too quite. Suddenly, a thundering metal clash stopped them dead in their tracks.

Madsen's ears resonated the distinct metal _clank_ of it; it was at least a block away. Soon it became louder, and repeated. The noise became paced, as if something made of metal was walking.

"Stop! Possible contact!" Madsen said, without turning away from the street corner.

Suddenly, the loud roar of a Warthog interrupted the harsh metal noise. The Admiral, and several others flinched as the chain gun began to resonate in the distance; clearly unloading a hail of bullets.

Madsen scanned the area for cover; he spotted a damaged structure on the right side of the street.

"This way. We're getting you guys to cover!" he barked out.

Approaching the building, the door was firmly shut. Luckily, it wasn't governmental property, so the door was hinged rather than electric. The door came down with a loud _crash_ as the Spartan-IV's armored boot kicked the door down.

The Admiral and Chief of State found a suitable cover location; a collapsed wall had created a sufficient barrier by the forward window. BY then, the metal crashing noise and the Warthog engine had grown ever so closer.

"Tedra, Hoya, on me." Madsen ordered, sensing an imminent battle.

Suddenly, a Warthog reared into view of building from the street, the chain gun renewed its cacophany and fired down the adjacent street; the Spartans couldn't see what the gunner was shooting at, until it was too late.

A crimson-red flash of light lanced out at the Warthog, striking the rear-end of the vehicle, causing it to violently explode. The carcass of the vehicle tumbled forward, with gas leaking out, which subsequently lit into flames.

There wasn't much left of the poor driver and gunner.

Striking from the street was a colossal machine, at least ten meters tall. It's design was quite unlike anything Madsen had ever seen; it had a "head" as its main body, which appeared to be heavily armored, with a large spherical turret gun on its chin. Supporting it, were two thin yet tall metal legs.

The Spartans remained as still as death, hoping for the walking machine to walk on and miss the humans in all of the rubble. Yet it was not so; the machine had walked roughly fifteen meters until it reared its head around. It was scanning the surrounding buildings, no doubt for more prey.

Eventually, it turned to face the building housing the Spartans and their superiors. It's head did not turn away, it glared into the building as its cannon swirled around to face the window.

Madsen pulled off two frag grenades of his waist; the other Spartans followed suite. They tossed the explosives out the shattered window, hurling them toward the walking tank. Several explosions erupted mid air, some on the ground.

The walking tank backed up, attempting to grab hold of where the explosions came from. Soon Madsen and the rest of Majestic rushed out of the building. Tedra took cover behind a fallen street direction sign, while Hoya dived for a crater in the ground.

The machine fired a flurry of crimson-red laser bolts from its main gun. Striking the surrounding buildings, the driver clearly was unsure where the shots had emerged from.

Madsen pulled his SRS99 sniper rifle off his back. Four 14.5 mm were capable of significant damage against all vehicles; standard rounds were highly-capable of penetrating the toughest of armor. He activated the smart-scope, and a small interface lit up the cross hairs of his weapon. He aimed at the "head" of the tank walker; and fired.

Two successive rounds pierced the unnerving silence of the atmosphere of the street as the bullets struck the machine. They were aimed at the main body of the machine, and impacted the slim, front view port with a crippling _crunch_ of metal. The front of walker was busted inward, with the metal ripping and tearing.

The machine appeared damaged, yet it turned to face Madsen. Instinctively, he raised the rifle again, and aimed at the joints where the legs met the main body. Madsen held his breath, steadied the rifle, and fired the two remaining rounds.

Both leg joints were struck; the armor-piercing rounds ripped through circuits and gears as the tall machine attempted to remain standing. However, the damage had proved too much. The machine backed off, and began to buckle its legs, until it ultimately tumbled forward and smashed its body into the ground.

Majestic regrouped and approached the walker. Madsen saw several sparks flying from the rotational structure of the tank walker. Suddenly, a top door abruptly shot open from the top.

Majestic immediately raised their weapons. Suddenly, one of the sparks turned into a flash of light, and the front head of the tank turbulently exploded, with chunks and fragments of metal flying in all directions.

The Spartan's shields flared yellow-orange as several stray fragments harmlessly impacted.

After the fire had begun to die down, the admiral began to speak to Madsen.

"Excellent work Spartan. the Hall of Sacrifice is just north of our current position."

The atmosphere remained awkwardly silent.

"Status report of Spartan Thorne?" the admiral inquired.

Madsen shook his head. "Negative sir, no communications have been received."

The admiral reaffirmed himself. "We'll have to rendezvous with him at the complex, I don't want any of our men leaving with the Alliance until we get to know what the hell is going on."

Spartans, marines and staff all nodded, and compositely joined in the sprint to the Hall of Sacrifices.

 **Landing Pad A-1, New Ottawa, May 3rd, 2570, Cresh**

Thorne was expecting the ships to be much larger in person. However, they were no longer than 150 meters in length; and their were only three. In addition, the accompanying fighter craft were not numerous; there were roughly 12, give or take a few larger ships.

The control tower had signaled clearance to the Alliance ships for refueling and take off. Shockingly, UNSC deuterium had proven to be compatible with the Alliance vessels, yet General Dodonna had referred to the fuel as "Rhydonium" during the preliminary compatibility scans.

Entering the landing pad, Thorne was led to a fairly large ship roughly twice the size of Pelican dropship. It had an extended ramp from the hull leading into the ship, with a dome-shaped cockpit with a turret and a dorsal turret emplacement.

Following Kanan and Zeb, he saw several scorch marks on the hull, with green and yellow stripes of paint fading away in several areas.

 _What a piece of junk,_ he thought.

He did not expect to join them inboard, but the Jedi actually insisted on Thorne's presence.

"With Hera injured, Zeb's going to have to fly our ship, leaving a gunnery position open. You were an excellent fighter out there." Kanan had reasoned.

Taking that as a compliment, Thorne had agreed to come aboard.

He entered through what appeared to be a main cargo bay, and he took a lift up into a main hallway, with several diverting cabins.

Zeb nudged Thorne's back. "Welcome to the _Ghost_ kid".

Thorne was annoyed by him being referred to as "kid" by the alien, but chose to ignore it as they proceeded down the hall.

Kanan had brought Captain Syndulla into one of the rooms, and had laid her in a what was made out to be a bed. Next to her was what resembled an I.V. and some sort of robot.

"Zeb, take care of Hera." he told the hulking alien.

Turning to Thorne, the Jedi pointed to a ladder protruding from the turret emplacement down the hallway.

"That's the gunners position. The controls respond to the movement of your body. Leaning will rotate the turret, and ducking down or pulling up will aim the turret in those directions."

Thorne nodded, and proceeded to the turret. He climbed the ladder, and situated himself in a rather comfortable seat.

He leaned to his right, and the turret responded. Thorne gazed out the glass dome at the Alliance ships as they began to lift off the ground.

The voice of an interior com channel interrupted his gaze.

"This is General Dodonna to all ships; we going to take the fight to the Empire. We need to destroy the remaining fighters they have in the atmosphere and in orbit to cover the evacuation of civilians. Phoenix Squadron, assume defensive formation Aurek and protect the corvettes, they are headed for orbit. Fang fighters and the _Ghost_ are going to clear a path."

The ship began to shake as the large engines behind him roared to life. The ship lifted off the ground, and the control tower progressively shrunk from view. The larger Alliance ships proceeded to accelerate into the sky, with several fighter escorts.

Several of the twin-pronged fighters had remained however, as they were going to clear the skies along with the _Ghost._

Thorne opened his personal communications link to Madsen.

"Madsen this is Thorne, do you read? I'm aboard an Alliance vessel and we are going to clear a path for the civilians." he said into the static.

His wrist was silent as the _Ghost_ gained sufficient altitude until he finally got a response.

"Commander, I was wondering when you would shout. We are currently moving into the Hall of Sacrifices complex for Pelican evac to the UNSC _Augustus,_ but the skies are swarming with enemy fighters."

"Don't worry, I can handle the fighters, just get the Chief and the Admiral to safety. Thorne, out."

The com chatter was silenced as the _Ghost_ shook from an impact of laser bolts. Thorne rotated his turret about 90 degrees to the left to see a group of three hexagonal-winged craft glancing by the ship.

They were remarkably fast, but they didn't look very aerodynamic at all. Most UNSC fighters were either VTOL craft or fixed-wing, allowing great versatility and maneuverability in planet atmospheres or in orbit.

Throne pressed on the red buttons on the control handles, and a pair of crimson-red laser bolts shot out from his gun. Two fighters were hit, and were destroyed, while the third received a glancing blow. It began to plummet from the sky until it crashed into a building.

Thorne turned downwards and yelled below.

"We need to head to downtown and clear the skies there, local air forces will mop up the rest here." he boomed throughout the hall.

"Alright, course us being plotted." responded Zeb.

The _Ghost_ and its escorting fighters veered to starboard and pressed further. The craft began to pick up speed as the skyscrapers of downtown New Ottawa began to appear in the distance. Many of them were on fire, some collapsed.

Thorne was confused and angered as to why this "Empire" would cause so much destruction, without provocation by from UNSC. Something told him the presence of the Alliance had something to do with it.

His pondering was cut short by an alert from the cockpit.

"Get ready up there, we've got incoming!" alerted Zeb.

Thorne turned forward to face the bow of the ship, and off in the distance he saw at least eight tiny dots, which were growing larger. The fighters had already disengaged from their air support in the city and had.

Thorne waited eagerly for the ships to come in range. His targeting screen had begun to illuminate into a bright red and orange grid. Soon, the hexagonal craft shimmered on to the screen.

He looked up and three fighters had begun to strafe the dorsal hull of the _Ghost._ Lances of green struck from the fighters as the impacted the shields, which violently illuminated a bright, cyan blue.

Thorne returned fire. The lead fighter was hit first; it exploded upon being hit. The other two broke off formation and flew past the view of Thorne's turret.

Three more soared in front of the _Ghost,_ being chased by the pronged fighters. They began to fire bright yellow bolts of light at an astonishing rate of fire. All three fighters were pelted with bolts as their weak hulls began to melt.

The ships porous and riddled with holes until one finally burst into flames; the other two collided with each other.

"Six down, two to go!" Thorne said to Zeb.

"Nice shooting up there, for your first time." Zeb remarked.

Thorne frowned as the final two fighters came into range, yet instead of attacking the _Ghost,_ they went for the nearest escort fighter. It became a dogfight, yet the poor pilot couldn't seem to shake the fighters.

Thorne aligned the turret, and the target screen lit up. Thorne fired; streams of red bolts shot out from the turret, but they missed as the lead fighter dipped just in time.

Thorne gritted his teeth as they kept on the pilot.

He waited until the lead ship came right into his crosshairs. The ship was fast, but couldn't maneuver well. He had to line up his shot perfectly.

Thorne breathed in, aimed in front of the fighter, and fired. A three pairs of bolts glanced the fighters wing, which became a spark. The craft buckled back and swerved as it lit into flames. The pilot behind him had no time to react; the two hostile fighters collided.

Thorne breathed out, and lied back into the gunners seat, satisfied with the results.

"Excellent shot Thorne!" Zeb said.

"Are the skies clear?" Thorne asked.

"Yeah, that was the last one of-"

"The last one of what? Whats wrong?" Thorne inquired.

"I'm getting a new reading, and its big! Get ready up there!"Zeb announced.

Thorne looked upwards. Two large craft emerged from the thin cloud layering, roughly 70 meters in length. They were rectangular, with short wings. Attached to the bottom of their hulls were four more fighters.

"Imperial transports! They're carrying fighters!" alerted Zeb.

Thorne initiated the com link again. "Majestic, what is your status?"

Madsen's voice came though the static. "Thorne, we have reached the roof of the Hall of Sacrifices complex, and are currently awaiting Pelican extraction, something big just came from the sky."

"We see them, we are about to engage. Thorne, out." he closed.

The transports detached their fighters, which began to swarm the _Ghost_ and its escorts.

Thorne spun his gun around and began firing volleys at the new targets. He managed to hit two on the port side of ship.

A group of friendly fighters jolted in front of the _Ghost_ and engaged three separate fighters. Those to soon met their end.

Thorne suddenly recoiled as the _Ghost_ began to take fire from the two transports; they sported individually at least two turrets of their own.

"Hey Zeb, does this thing carry some heavy ordnance? Explosive, perhaps?" the Spartan asked.

"Heh heh, you bet it does." Zeb responded.

The _Ghost_ veered to starboard as it recovered from its attack run. It resumed attack formation, targeting the lead transport. Oddly, the remaining fighters were no where in sight.

Thorne began to fire at the transport, which was luckily a much bigger and slower target to hit. The crimson-red bolts struck the ship repeatedly, yet they rippled a teal layering of shields.

 _Damn, they wouldn't want to make it too easy for us._

The Imperial ship soon returned the favor, with emerald-green strays of bolts striking the shields of the _Ghost._ The ship's hull began to groan under the stress.

"Zeb, where's that heavy ordnance? Thorn shot down to the cockpit.

"Proton torpedoes loaded, firing now!" Zeb returned.

 _Proton torpedoes? Let's see how the Imperials like that._

Two bright red orbs launched from the bow of the _Ghost._ They sought the first transport, and hit it's port side. Two explosions merged into one as the fireball breached the shields and chewed into the hull of the ship.

The weapons firing ceased as it began to dip forward and plummet.

"One down, one to go!" Thorne reported.

"Uh, those were our last torpedoes, we're bone dry." Zeb said.

Thorne's mood was soured slightly, as the _Ghost_ continues to creak under pressure.

Another volley of laser fire erupted from the second transport as the shields of the _Ghost_ began to blink rapidly.

"We're losing the shields!" Zeb yelled.

Thorne returned fire to the other transport, yet the damage was superficial. It's shields flared, yet did not fail.

Thorne began to brace and await the final blow, until the roar of an engine silence the blaring noise of the laser fire.

"New contact!" yelled Zeb.

Thorne attempted to see what it was, but the explosion erupting before his eyes blackened most of his view in smoke. The _Ghost_ turned back, with its escorts to avoid the damage. The Imperial transport had been utterly destroyed.

Thorne looked up in gratitude when he saw three C712 GAT-TL1 Longsword fighters streak beyond the Alliance group.

"This is Viper Leader, I apologize for that danger-close run." a voice interrupted through the intercom.

Thorne responded to the Longsword pilot.

"This is Spartan Gabriel Thorne, on board the Rebel Alliance ship _Ghost._ That strike was much appreciated, you saved our skins there Viper Leader."

"Anytime Spartan. These guys give us war, and believe me, we deliver it right back."

The _Ghost_ moved in towards the Hall of Sacrifices tower. The tower was quite tall, at an imposing 1500 meters high. Its towering antenna was shadowed as Pelican dropship was on approach from the west.

Thorne opened his link to Majestic.

"Madsen, the skies are clear, you are go for evac."

"Roger that Thorne, Pelican is in range and-"

The com link cut out as the Pelican in the distance burst into flames. The wings left wing had been severed completely, with the transport now furiously attmepting to maintain its altitude.

"What the hell just happened? Zeb, you have to move us in to that tower!"

"I'm on it!" he responded.

The _Ghost,_ along with Viper Squadron, began to divert to the tower. Three Imperial fighters had intercepted the Pelican, which by now had collided by the tower.

"This is Viper 2, I'm engaging the hostiles." one of the pilots said.

The three Longswords launched missiles from their weapons bays, which rocketed towards the fighters. One managed to hit a fighter, which exploded upon impact. The other two veered around and picked off the missiles with their laser cannons.

"Damn, I'm moving to intercept." Viper 2 said.

One of the Longswords diverted course, tracking one of the fighters. Viper 2 began to unleash the 120mm cannon on his fighter, pelting the hostile craft with lead. Soon it could no longer withstand the firepower and erupted into a fireball.

But the glee of the pilot would not last for long; the remaining fighter had intercepted Viper 2, and fired a volley of green energy at him.

The laser bolts chewed through the unshielded hull as if it was paper in a fire, and the Longsword was split into, which subsequently exploded.

Thorne didn't have the time to feel any remorse. He focused on the straggler and fired his turret three times at the fighter, and destroyed it.

After his final sense of relief, he scanned the surface of the tower for Majestic. Thankfully, a signal flare had been ignited, which poured sparks and smoke into the now darkening sky.

"We need to land there so we can pick our delegates up! Can you take us to our flagship?" Thorne asked.

"I'll have to check in with General Dodonna, but I think I can pull this one off." Zeb said.

Thorne slipped out of the gunnery position and paced his way to the cargo bay. The _Ghost_ had veered around and was no facing the building. The ramp dispensed itself, and opened.

Majestic was waiting there for them, with Admiral Beyes and Chief Roberts. The Spartan took the two in their arms and activated their jumpjets to bridge the gap between the _Ghost_ and the building.

Their boots landed on the ramp with a loud _thud._

Thorne walked to Madsen and relieved him of command of the squad.

The Admiral was the first to speak. "Commander, excellent work with the air support, and you as well Majestic."

He continued. "I must stress my utmost gratitude for the Alliance for receiving us after our Pelican was destroyed, but we now need to be taken to the _Augustus_ immediately to finish this fight."

"Sir?" Thorne inquired.

"Commander, we have suffered terrible losses from the Imperial forces in orbit, yet we have managed to destroy the majority of their fleet. We have received several transmissions from the Sangheili, Rtas is preparing to board the remaining ship."

Thorne smiled, as the Alliance general, along with the Jedi appeared with them.

"Maybe their captain and our captured officer would make a lovely couple in an interrogation room."


End file.
